I got a crazy teacher, he wears dark glasses... Perhaps the future of the sport of soccer in this country is bright after all.

Wow, I almost missed this one. Thanks Google News for catching this for me. It seems that with the declining TV ratings for MLB, NBA and--of course--NHL, MLS's flat ratings don't look to bad.

Buried at the bottom of Michael Hiestand's Sports Television piece in Tuesday's USAToday is some interesting information about televised soccer in this country. It seems that NBC, ABC and Fox are all interested in obtaining the English Language broadcast rights to both the 2010 and 2014 World Cups. Wow! It was just a couple of years ago that MLS and the then owners of the league had to pony up the rights fee and buy time on ESPN/ABC to get the games on the air. Next summer we are getting all games on the Disney Sports Network in Hi Def and now it looks like there's a possible bidding war in the making.

Of course, Don Garber's got his hand out here...

"It's our view that FIFA will ensure that any decision they make will support overall growth in soccer interest in this country."

In other words--as suggested by the article--Garber wants any World Cup rights tied to a deal to broadcast MLS games. Can't say I blame him for trying. We'll have to keep an eye on this one.

The future (for soccer) is so bright, I've got to wear shades.  ¶ 12:35 PM